Mr. Bloomberg said the city had planned to reopen the park on Tuesday morning after the protesters’ tents and tarps had been removed and the stone steps had been cleaned. He said the police had already let about 50 protesters back in when officials received word of a temporary restraining order sought by lawyers for the protesters. He said the police had closed the park again until lawyers for the city could appear at a court hearing later in the morning.

Zuccotti Park, on the other hand — who'd even heard of it before? In fact, it's the Occupy Wall Street protesters who've made it famous, and if it's a tourist attraction, it's because of the OWS branding. And yet New York City parks are not mostly about attracting tourists. The people who live and work near a park are the ones with the most interest in access.

And now that the protesters have lawyered up and gone to court in an attempt to nail down legal rights to occupy the space, it changes the character of the interaction with the mayor, and it's quite understandable that he would take a hardcore stance in response.

ADDED: The description of the battle against the police is tucked further down in the linked NYT article. Snippets:

The protesters rallied around an area known as the kitchen, near the middle of the park, and began putting up makeshift barricades with tables and pieces of scrap wood....

[As the police entered the park], dozens of protesters linked arms and shouted “No retreat, no surrender,” “This is our home” and “Barricade!”

I just finished playing a high school production of Les Miserables... and I was informed that the director of the musical (an alumnus of the high school) had specifically used Zuccotti Park and the OWS movement as a rallying point for the show. He was basically telling the kids that the OWS struggle, and the struggle leading up to the June Uprising, were one and the same.

"Among those arrested was City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, a Democrat who represents northern Manhattan. He was with a group near the intersection of Broadway and Vesey Street that was attempting to link up with protesters at Zuccotti Park. The group tried to push through a line of officers trying to prevent people from reaching the park. Mr. Rodriquez was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest."

One does not need to play "six degrees of separation" to see the linkage between these alienated losers and the Democrats cheering them on, as if the Democrats were not completely complicit in creating the very conditions these dirty dopes are mewling over.

"Zuccotti Park, on the other hand — who'd even heard of it before. In fact, it's the Occupy Wall Street protesters who've made it famous, and if it's a tourist attraction, it's because of the OWS branding. And yet New York City parks are not mostly about attracting tourists."

Zuccotti Park is not a public park. It is private property.

"In building this plaza, there was an agreement it be open 24 hours a day," Kelly said. "The owners have put out regulations [about what's allowed in park]. The owners will have to come in and direct people not to do certain things." spokesperson for Brookfield Properties, the owner of the park, expressed concern: "Zuccotti Park is intended for the use and enjoyment of the general public for passive recreation. We are extremely concerned with the conditions that have been created by those currently occupying the park and are actively working with the City of New York to address these conditions and restore the park to its intended purpose."

I so look forward to NYC and all the other cities that allowed the Occupy [X] demonstrators to camp out without permits for over two months extending the same understanding and courtesy to every other group that feels the need to protest.

Two months of Tea Party? Check.Two months of Right to Life? Check.Two months of American Nazi Party? Check.

Anyone remember the Simpsons episode where Grandpa decided he wanted to die with assisted suicide? The worker asked him what sounds and images he wanted as they killed him and he opted for swing music and cops beating hippies.

I expect the judge will order the ows group to be allowed back in, and probably order the city to provide services to them. Adequate restroom facilities, Minimum nutrition requirements, and probably on-site medical staff. Of course all of this will be paid for by tax dollars from the corporations they are protesting.

My wife's take: the lefties embraced the Occupy movement when then thought they'd score some points. Once the polls made it clear that the Occupy movement was a boat anchor with voters, then it was "Sayanara, and don't let the door hit you on the butt on your way out."

The mayor waits an inordinate amount of time before taking action. Once he does, a judge orders the protestors be allowed back in. Sometime in the past few years, the number of loons in positions of authority became greater than the number of sensible people.

interesting point madison man,Actually 100% of the people living in the USA are the 1% in 3rd world countries around the world. I think it makes the OWS crowd a little selfish by comparison. What gives them the right to live so much better than the truly poor in places like Bangladesh, and India ?

Way too little, way too late. Bloomie should have put the hammer down the morning of 9/20.

Watch what happens to the political careers of the mayors of Portland, Oakland, Denver, and, of course, Gotham.

OTOH, the mayor of Atlanta should prosper.

Venckman's Law.

Big Mike said...

My wife's take: the lefties embraced the Occupy movement when then thought they'd score some points. Once the polls made it clear that the Occupy movement was a boat anchor with voters, then it was "Sayanara, and don't let the door hit you on the butt on your way out."

Agree up to the last part. The Demos and the unions are on record as supporting this, something that will be a big feature of political ads next year. As late as last week, GodZero was singing their praises and the unions were trumpeting their intent to join forces with the Occupation.

Whatever "Sayonara" there might have been was very faint and won't save the Left from being reminded of this.

I think that the NYC occupiers are being stupid here. They are going to lose long run in court, since they are trespassing and violating NYC ordinances. Finding an ACLU judge to stall this just gives the rest of us more time to see how infantile they are. It is likely getting to the point that if put on the ballot, a majority of the denzines of NYC are probably approaching the point where they would vote for the death penalty for these protesters. And that, after the infliction of some cruel and unusual punishment, such as drawing and quartering, tarring and feathering, the rack, etc.

I don't have a lot of sympathy though for the Mayor, city council, et al. From day 1, the protesters were in violation of numerous city ordinances, which they consciously decided not to enforce (but probably would have if the protesters had not been leftists supported by leftist organizations). The biggest messes and most violence across the country seem to have occurred in the cities where the protesters were given the most slack through selective non-enforcement of the relevant statutes and ordinances. (And, yes, Berkely is probably the most egregious here, with the mayor giving his non-public safety city employees a day off to joint the protest).

Back to my original point though - the Dems would do much better if they just let the relevant authorities (who are almost all Dems) shut down the protests ASAP. While originally they had some sort of message, maybe, the message they now are sending is that they would rather loaf and protest than work. This just makes the Tea Party message of personal responsibility that much more attractive for the bulk of Americans.

There is some confusion about the legal proceedings affecting the Park. Under an agreement between the owner and the City (part of an agreemment by the owner to obtain approval to put up a bigger than allowed building on the adjoining lot), the owner agreed to keep the park open to the public 24/7. "Open to the public" does not include camping, setting up kitchens or squatting (in this or any other City park) as the OWS crowd had been doing.

The City's announcement that it was evicting the OWS squatters made it clear, even before litigation, that the City and the owner were going to clear the park and then allow anyone (including OWS guys) back in later today. What will not be allowed is any camping, kitchens, etc.

Given the City's position, the TRO really had little effect - it said that the City had to reopen the park, but the City was doing that anyway. The TRO, by its terms was effective only until the hearing this morning scheduled for 11:30, at which time it would expire automatically unless extended by the Court. The TRO also excluded any police action to remove anyone for criminal violations -- an exception that may well have swallowed the restriction, since camping in City parks is (at a minimum) a violation. (Shades of Three Felonies a Day here.)

One commenter suggested that the City would take an immediate appeal from the TRO. An appeal from an ex parte order is not allowed under NY state procedure -- only orders made after notice are subject to an appeal in state court. So there will be no appealable order until after this morning's hearing, and there may well be no need for any such order given the City's position. Here as elsewhere, there is less than meets the eye in this story.

Not sure if they were caught with "hand grenades". They sound more like IEDs - fireworks inside mason jars, that when exploded would scatter glass shrapnel all over the place. Most likely highly illegal under federal law, and probably the sort of thing that the BATFE should be pursuing, instead of walking guns to gangs and terrorists.

"lyssalovelyredhead said... I keep hearing that the park is technically private property. If that's the case, isn't this up to the owner, not the city (other than being up to the city to enforce the owners' demand for ouster)?"

I'd guess that the owner simply doesn't want to get on their bad side. Such is the power of thuggery: It exerts a chilling effect on otherwise rational individuals.

So if it is actually a private park, the city can file against the owners for allowing a public nuisance and a public disturbance or whatever the legal terms are. Like rh -- barbecuing -- whatever -- *with* attendant fines. Of course the park owner can sue the bank account of OWS for that and for every minute they don't get out of there, legal fees ....)

Private enterprise does have a way of getting results.

And that $1/2 mil won't last long with the plethora of attorneys who have piled on with the OWS people.

Hehe.

Talk about the 1% and greed (or normal savvy?) The OWS people are paying for this?

There is a certain kind of bourgeoisie young person who has been raised in comfort and love yet feels so deeply guilty for it all. They romanticize the barricades and want so badly to be themselves oppressed. This is how it's always been in the civilized world.

Zuccotti Park is in fact privately owned,but is set aside for public access at the behest of the City. It's a "if you do this here we'll let you do that there" deal between the developer (you) and the City (we). I'm not sure that the City can just throw them out without the permission of the owner under normal circumstances. But once the group became a public nuisance or a danger to public health, then I imagine the City could act unilaterally.

Young Hegelian, the Richmond Tea Party has taken an action that every Tea Party group that held a rally in a city where OWS spinoffs camped out should copy:

Richmond Tea Party Treasurer Corky Mann hand delivered an invoice for $8500 to city government. In the wake of the preferential treatment that has been granted to the “Occupy” protest in Richmond (which was finally evicted on October 28), the Richmond Tea Party wants a full refund for all city-imposed costs related to their annual Tax Day rally. John Pride, a member of the Richmond Tea Party and author of the article writes:

For each event at Kanawha Plaza we filed timely applications for governmental review and paid all required permit fees. We arranged for toilets, first-aid care, staging, lights and sound, off-duty police officers for security, event insurance and volunteers trained to support an orderly day of protest. We always left the property as clean as — or cleaner than — we found it. The Occupy Richmond group met none of these benchmarks while camped out in the same Kanawha Plaza between Oct. 15th and Oct. 31 (the morning they were finally evicted). So in the spirit of our founding principle of equal application of the law, the Richmond Tea Party is requesting a full refund from the City of Richmond for city-imposed costs related to these three rallies.

Here is a photo I took a couple of years ago that I think captures the magic of the park (especially at night). It was really upsetting to see what had become of the park once the tents started going up.

@ScottM: I suppose he glossed over the part about The Terror and the tens of thousands of "enemies of the revolution" that were killed.

Of course he did. Can't have the children exposed to all those icky details.

He wanted all of the romanticism, but none of the horrible. Like all those dead people, for example.

Hopefully, at some point someone in the cast wondered, "But what about the guy who lost all his friends? They're all dead now. Is that what OWS is all about? Getting all your friends killed?"

Seems to me that the folks who supported OWS "from a distance" were completely caught up in the romance of it, but didn't want to deal with the harsh reality. Sort of like a Harlequin novel, but without the hot dude on the cover.